Stress

Stress related problems

Symptoms of stress often build up gradually before you start noticing them. Stress can affect how you feel, how you think, how you behave and how your body works.

It affects people in different ways but if you are stressed you may have some of the following symptoms:

Addiction is a complex illness with physical and psychological symptoms, affecting not only the patient, but their family, friends and social environment too.

Your Feelings

You may feel:

irritable

anxious

low in self-esteem

have a low mood

Your Thoughts

You may find that you:

have racing thoughts

worry constantly

imagining the worst

go over and over things

Your Behaviour

You may notice you're:

having temper outbursts

drinking more

smoking more

on the go all the time

talking more or faster

changing your eating habits

feeling unsociable

being forgetful or clumsy

being unreasonable

struggling to concentrate

Your Body

You may be suffering from:

headaches

muscle tension and pain

stomach problems

sweating

feeling dizzy

bowel or bladder problems

breathlessness

dry mouth

sexual problems

It is important to learn how stress affects you as this will help you figure out what coping techniques work best for you. It will also help you avoid resorting to unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking and comfort-eating.